ajouteast
Member Since 2011
The folks at the regular board suggested that I come here and post my history and ask for some advice. Sorry in advance for the length of this post, but I wanted to give you the full picture.
Bogey is 10 1/2 years old. He was diagnosed early November 2010 after I noticed that he was drinking tons of water, urinating constantly and had developed an insatiable appetite. The vet ran blood work and did a thyroid test - all that came back normal except obviously for the diabetes. The vet started him on 1 unit of Lantus BID. After a month when the drinking, eating hadn't changed he switched him gradually to 2 units BID. In February 2011, after doing a fructosamine test, he increased Bogey to 3 units BID and eventually to 4 units BID, when the symptoms still weren't subsiding.
In late April of this year, after becoming increasingly frustrated with that vet, I switched Bogey to a new vet who treats cats only and supposedly has had far more experience with diabetic cats. Shortly after the switch I had Bogey in to the new vet to do a curve. During the curve the vet caught some urine, ran a test, found ketones and had me immediately take him to the ER hospital where he spent the next 24 hours being stabilized. All his blood work, and everything looked great and Bogey was allowed to leave the next night. Both the ER vet and the new cat vet suggested his Lantus be increased to 5 units BID. At this point I was questioning if the Lantus was working, or if there were other problems, etc. Should he be switched to a different insulin, etc. They said the Lantus was working, just not well enough and that he needed a higher dose.
After the ketone episode, and with the new vet, I started home testing. You can see on Bogey's SS that I did my first home curve on May 1st. I've reported all of the testing to the new vet, who has increased his dose two more times - now we are at 7 units BID. We just ran another thyroid test (came back normal) and a growth hormone test (waiting for results). He is having constipation issues and is now on Miralax twice a day. He has had some significant poos... but still seems to be having issues.
Bogey's symptoms have not changed since diagnosis. He drinks tons, pees constantly, and acts like he's starving. I currently feed him 2 cans of Fancy Feast Classic in the AM and 2 cans in the PM. There is Wellness Core (and was Purina D/M in the past) available to free feed. The dry food was kept because he is used to free feeding and also because I have another cat who free feeds. The new vet also like there to be some dry food available in case Bogey would throw up shortly after getting his shot, but after I've left for work.
After reading a lot here, and talking with some folks, I'm thinking I should try to eliminate the dry food and see what that does. I'm concerned about how to do this safely, especially because of his past history of ketones. I work a regular M-F, 8-6 work week and don't really have anyone to help. I will be home the next three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and could spend some time working on this and closely monitoring him now... if this is enough time to try to change him over. I'd really appreciate any advice about how to do this OR even if I should be trying this. I'm so frustrated and of course, very concerned at this point. It's been 7 months and his symptoms haven't improved. His mood has increased quite a bit in the last month or so, which is great, but not the symptoms or his numbers. We can't seem to get his diabetes under control, muchless even hope for remission.
Thank you, and again sorry for the long read!
Amy
Bogey is 10 1/2 years old. He was diagnosed early November 2010 after I noticed that he was drinking tons of water, urinating constantly and had developed an insatiable appetite. The vet ran blood work and did a thyroid test - all that came back normal except obviously for the diabetes. The vet started him on 1 unit of Lantus BID. After a month when the drinking, eating hadn't changed he switched him gradually to 2 units BID. In February 2011, after doing a fructosamine test, he increased Bogey to 3 units BID and eventually to 4 units BID, when the symptoms still weren't subsiding.
In late April of this year, after becoming increasingly frustrated with that vet, I switched Bogey to a new vet who treats cats only and supposedly has had far more experience with diabetic cats. Shortly after the switch I had Bogey in to the new vet to do a curve. During the curve the vet caught some urine, ran a test, found ketones and had me immediately take him to the ER hospital where he spent the next 24 hours being stabilized. All his blood work, and everything looked great and Bogey was allowed to leave the next night. Both the ER vet and the new cat vet suggested his Lantus be increased to 5 units BID. At this point I was questioning if the Lantus was working, or if there were other problems, etc. Should he be switched to a different insulin, etc. They said the Lantus was working, just not well enough and that he needed a higher dose.
After the ketone episode, and with the new vet, I started home testing. You can see on Bogey's SS that I did my first home curve on May 1st. I've reported all of the testing to the new vet, who has increased his dose two more times - now we are at 7 units BID. We just ran another thyroid test (came back normal) and a growth hormone test (waiting for results). He is having constipation issues and is now on Miralax twice a day. He has had some significant poos... but still seems to be having issues.
Bogey's symptoms have not changed since diagnosis. He drinks tons, pees constantly, and acts like he's starving. I currently feed him 2 cans of Fancy Feast Classic in the AM and 2 cans in the PM. There is Wellness Core (and was Purina D/M in the past) available to free feed. The dry food was kept because he is used to free feeding and also because I have another cat who free feeds. The new vet also like there to be some dry food available in case Bogey would throw up shortly after getting his shot, but after I've left for work.
After reading a lot here, and talking with some folks, I'm thinking I should try to eliminate the dry food and see what that does. I'm concerned about how to do this safely, especially because of his past history of ketones. I work a regular M-F, 8-6 work week and don't really have anyone to help. I will be home the next three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and could spend some time working on this and closely monitoring him now... if this is enough time to try to change him over. I'd really appreciate any advice about how to do this OR even if I should be trying this. I'm so frustrated and of course, very concerned at this point. It's been 7 months and his symptoms haven't improved. His mood has increased quite a bit in the last month or so, which is great, but not the symptoms or his numbers. We can't seem to get his diabetes under control, muchless even hope for remission.
Thank you, and again sorry for the long read!
Amy
